Simple
by Laoise Potter
Summary: His life will be anything but. Post 3.10, Rizzles babyfic. One-shot...?


**A/N: **Post 3.10 baby fic! I had to do it. Very scarcely edited, so…don't hold me to it. I'd love to hear what you all think! Happy reading!

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"It's Lydia's baby."

Maura sat up straight. Angela's jaw dropped in shock, her knitting needles frozen mid-stitch. Across the room, Jane was standing with her mouth open, staring down at the new life in her arms. "She left him on the doorstep…"

In his sleep, the little boy tapped Jane on the chest. Feeling a sudden, inexplicable wave of happiness, she couldn't help but smile down at him. "Oh, baby," she breathed, and looked up at her mother and best friend, well aware of the grin spread across her face. "He's here."

"My God…" Angela whispered, standing up slowly as she gaped like a goldfish at the baby in her daughter's arms. Tentatively, Jane took a couple steps forward to meet her mother and handed over the sleeping child. She sank down next to Maura, placing a hand on the ME's thigh as her friend laid one on her shoulder and squeezed gently. All three women stared at the baby being gently rocked by Angela, each one of them thinking the exact same thing.

"What do we do?"

Angela glanced over at her daughter. "I…I don't know, Janie." She sighed heavily and hugged the boy closer, shutting her eyes tightly. "Oh, I wish Tommy could take some responsibility…"

"Ma, we both know that isn't going to happen," Jane breathed, shooting her mother a sympathetic look as silence fell over the room. Everybody was gazing at the boy with a mixture of adoration and apprehension; what did Lydia expect them to do with him? As far as they knew, she still had all the gifts and baby supplies he needed in her possession. None of this plan was thought through, a fact that further instilled the notion that it wasn't right to return him to his birth parents inside the three women's minds.

After a few quiet moments, Maura removed her hand from Jane's shoulder and extended her arms. "May I?"

Angela nodded, and stooped to hand the bundle over. "He might need feeding soon." Straightening, she turned around and headed towards the back door. "I think I might still have a bottle and some formula that I didn't give her…"

The door shut. Jane looked down and smiled sadly, giving Maura's thigh a rub. "Well…he's a beautiful baby."

Maura glanced up and grinned at Jane, feeling some of the weight on her heart from that day's events lift away. "Yes, he is." Cradling his head in her elbow, she stroked his cheek with one finger and sighed. "Oh, Jane, what are we going to do?"

The detective bit her lip. "I don't know, Maur. I mean, Lydia obviously thought you were smart enough to make the right decision by him, or else she wouldn't have left him with you."

"Well you're forgetting one thing, Jane." The corners of Maura's lips twitched as a tiny hand closed around her finger. "The only times Lydia was ever in this house, you were there." She met Jane's eyes and tilted her head. "It's very likely she thought you lived here with me. She may have entrusted this baby to you."

"What?" Jane made a face. "That's crazy. Why would she think of me while you're in the picture? You were a hell of a lot nicer to her than I was."

"Mmm, well, you _are_ a biological relative. Maybe she wanted him to be with family."

As Jane opened her mouth to reply, the door suddenly swung open. Angela reentered the house with her jaw hanging, a bottle forgotten in her hand. "Lydia's baby stuff…it's all in the driveway!"

"_What?_" the two women on the couch hissed simultaneously.

"You must've looked right past it, Janie, I…I missed it too, on my way out, but when I came back…" Angela swallowed hard and shook her head slowly. "Everything's out there. The clothes, the diapers, the toys, the crib—all of it!"

Jane smacked a hand to her forehead. "Oh my _God…_"

Angela spread her arms wide. "I…I'm speechless. Positively speechless. I'm"—she flopped back down into her armchair, narrowly missing her knitting needles—"she expects us, or _somebody_, to just care for this baby? To raise him?"

Another silence fell. Jane and Maura met each other's eyes and silently communicated their thoughts to one another before the shorter woman opened her mouth. "I think…I think he's ours."

The hand that Angela had used to prop her head up fell against the armrest with a thud. "_What?_"

"Yeah…" Jane scooted closer to her friend, reaching up with her other to adjust the boy's blanket. "I think so, too."

The eldest Rizzoli opened and closed her mouth a few times before she found her voice again. "But…you both have _lives_. You have _jobs_. Neither of you are married! How…_how_ could you possibly plan to do something like this?"

Maura shrugged slightly. "My parents worked all the time while I was growing up. It's not ideal, but"—she grinned down at the child—"I turned out okay."

"Yeah, and we don't always work at the same time. God knows how much vacation time I've racked up over the years, and with the new detective in homicide, I'm sure Cavanaugh could spare me a few weeks leave."

Surprised at her friend's offer, Maura looked up. "You'd be willing to do that for him?"

"Of course." Jane ran her thumb across the tiny hand still gripping the ME's finger. "He's family. And seriously, when am _I_ ever going to go on maternity leave? I mean, come on."

Maura laughed, and maneuvered her hand so she was grasping Jane's with the boy's in between. The detective smiled at her, love and admiration apparent in both their expressions. Oblivious to this exchange, Angela ran her hands over her face. "He didn't happen to have a birth certificate with him, did he, Jane?" she questioned

"No."

"Well, considering he wasn't born in a hospital, I guess…" Maura sighed. "It's our job to get him one."

"Absolutely."

Maura smiled, and murmured, "What should we call him?"

Tilting her head, Jane studied the sleeping bundle and considered for a moment. "Well, he's had a pretty complicated life so far. I think his name should be simple."

Maura nodded slowly, pinching her lips together. "How about Sam?" she whispered suddenly with a glance over at her friend for approval.

"Sam." Jane's lips curled upwards. "I like it." She released Maura's hand to reach up and carefully adjust the hat on his head. "Little Sammy. It's perfect, Maura."

"And a surname."

The two women looked up. Angela had her hands folded at her mouth, her expression unreadable, and asked, "What's his last name going to be?"

Jane relaxed. "That's easy, Ma. Isles."

"Rizzoli."

Surprised that they had both spoken two different answers at the same time, both women narrowed their eyes at each other. "What did you say?" Jane questioned first.

"Oh, come on, Jane." Maura moved her hand around a little bit, demonstrating the still vice-like grip Sam had on her finger. "He's most _definitely_ a Rizzoli."

"Yeah, but he was left on _your_ doorstep. Besides, you're the one who lives somewhere with enough room for him to grow! He _has_ to be an Isles."

"Why not both?"

Their heads snapped around. Angela shrugged. "I don't want to pick a side, and I know you will both argue against each other til you're blue in the face, so how about you split the difference and give him both? A lot of people have hyphenated last names. Like…BenJarvus Green-Ellis."

Jane's eyebrows furrowed. "_You_ know BenJarvus Green-Ellis?"

Angela shrugged again. "I've heard the boys talking about him a few times, so I looked him up." She waved her hands as if to gain attention. "The point is he has a very interesting name, so maybe it's not a bad idea to give the little guy each of yours. I mean…" She trailed off slightly, glancing from her daughter to Maura and back again. "If you're really going to do this together."

Before either of them could respond, Sam stretched, simultaneously releasing Maura's hand, burrowing deeper into her chest, and closing his tiny fist around one of the digits Jane had resting lightly on his stomach. Feeling yet another grin spread across her face, Jane inclined her head towards Maura. "I think he just claimed both of us," she whispered.

"Me too," Maura replied. "Sam Rizzoli-Isles. I love it."

With a tired exhale, Angela stood up, picking up the forgotten bottle on the floor. "Well, I'm going to go rinse this off, and then fix it for him in case he wakes up. I forgot I hid the formula in the back of your refrigerator, Maura, I hope you don't mind."

"_Really_, Ma? Really?"

"Jane, it's fine," Maura scolded quietly, gently rocking her new son. "It's not like it matters, anyways. What's mine is his now." She raised her eyes to meet Jane's. "It's also yours, if and when you decide you're ready to move in."

The detective's heart swelled, and she jokingly placed a hand against her friend's forehead. "My, you've made an impressive turn-around, Dr. Isles. Feeling better?"

Maura nodded, also feeling her heart expand. "We're mothers, Jane. _Mothers_."

"We are, aren't we?" An indescribably large amount of happiness surged through Jane's body and she pulled Maura into her, kissing her forehead quickly before hugging her and their son gently. Everything was going to change now, and as unexpected as this turn of events was, Jane truly felt that she wouldn't have it any other way.

"We should probably get in touch with somebody and see about that whole birth certificate situation," she said as they pulled apart. "It would be nice if his life got on track sooner rather than later."

"I'll call the hospital tomorrow and see if we can get a check-up, too," Maura offered, shifting Sam so he was resting more comfortably in her arms. "An appointment for little Sam Rizzoli-Isles." She glanced up at her friend. "He'll need a middle name as well."

Jane thought for a moment. "Sosa."

"Mmm, we'll discuss, Jane."


End file.
